PowerBank targets Ontario’s capacity procurement with new fee-for-service BESS development deal

Ontario’s position in the grid-scale energy storage sector is one of the fastest-scaling in the world, and this activity has prompted another independent developer to aim to join in on the province’s competitive capacity contracts. 

Toronto-based PowerBank Corporation, known primarily for its solar operations, has entered into a fee-for-service development agreement targeting the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) Second Long-term (LT2) procurement framework.

The partnership, struck with a numbered company “1001634281 Ontario Inc”, which is connected to the Electric Vehicle & Green Energy Advancement Association Canada, focuses specifically on the LT2(c-2) capacity-stream window. 

Under the terms, PowerBank said it will provide early-stage development services for a proposed battery energy storage system (BESS) project intended for the IESO tender. Should a contract be awarded, PowerBank will guide the project to the notice-to-proceed phase. It also holds the right of first refusal to step in as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) provider. 

Separately, the developer is also assisting its new partner in exploring an 18 MW BESS installation in Hamilton, Ontario.

The aim is to participate in a capital-light structure, given that the financing requirements for BESS can be significant at utility-scale. Alongside this move, PowerBank also restructured debt to clear its balance sheets of effective drag on the new operational goals.

Early rounds of the IESO’s capacity procurement have heavily favored battery energy storage as the preferred technology for managing system peaks and balancing the grid.